A New Digi-Adventure
by JLFox8
Summary: Picking up from Season 2, episode 38, there are new characters; Autumn and her partners Terriermon and Lopmon. Told through Autumn's perspective, the group accept her and she becomes particularly close with Ken, as he too is new to the group. Note: I could not access my old account and therefore have had to republish the story here. There is no plagiarism, I am the author.
1. Chapter 1

It's been three years since Devimon tried to defeat the original DigiDestined by using his Black Gears to enslave all the Digimon. There was also an incident which happened over the web involving a Digimon called Diaboromon. Who didn't hear about that one!? Oh and there was also a story going round about my cousin Willis, who lives in America. His Digimon, Kokomon, was attacked by a virus, apparently the same one that attacked Diaboromon, and well let's just say things got messy. Of course it turned out alright in the end thanks to the second group of DigiDestined.

Hi! My name is Aki 'Autumn' Hotaru. My Digimon are twins just like Willis', Terriermon and Lopmon. My friends and I are DigiDestined, there's Fuyo 'Winter' Hoshi and his partner BlackGatomon, Haru 'Spring' Kasumi and her partner Renamon, Natsu 'Summer' Hikari and her partner Sunflowmon. People know us better as Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer. At first it started with just the four of us as a group, then we became friends with Tora, Ren, Kaede, Raiden, Rai for short and Tadashi, Todd for short. Their partners were Coronamon, Lunamon, Kudamon, Bearmon and Labramon. We made a pretty cool team. Things got heated up again when the Digiworld came under threat of a new evil: The Digimon Emperor. While the second group of DigiDestined fought against him, I and my friends worked on helping the Digimon who were being controlled by the Dark Rings. Once again things turned back to normal, and life made us drift apart afterwards. We still meet every now and then in the digital world. As for me personally, I became friends with Davis and the others. As it turns out, Ken was the Digimon Emperor and didn't realise what he was actually doing; well now he's on our side with his partner Wormmon.

Ken and Davis seem to be really getting along, but it's obvious that Cody doesn't like Ken one bit. At least Armadillomon is more forgiving. I'm sure they just need some time. Even I'm feeling like an outsider here but they're great friends and easy to work with. As they team up together to destroy the control spires, Terriermon and Lopmon still prefer to team with each other, so we decided to go off further away from them.

"Terriermon, do you think we should try harder to be friends with them?" I asked. It's been difficult for me since splitting away from the others; I'm not used to other people yet. I grew up with Summer and the others.

Terriermon turned to me "I'm not sure, Veemon was telling me how the group feels like we don't socialise with them..."

"It's not that I don't want to, it's just part of me feels like I'm just replacing our other friends, if that makes sense?"

"Yeah and what if they don't like us?" Lopmon said quietly while tilting her head down.

Terriermon shouted back "There's only one way to find out. Besides, Wormmon likes you, Lopmon! I mean 'Like likes' you! Hahaha!"

Lopmon turned red, bit the corner of her lip and mumbled "Shuttup, your mouth is as big as your ears"

"Hey guys look, Ken's coming over. So is Wormmon" I could see them walking over and Ken had a little green envelope in his hand.

Lopmon dived into a bush "Ahhh, I'm not here!" I and Terriermon laughed.

"I'm having a party, if you would like to come?" Ken said as he extended his arm out, handing me the envelope.

I blushed "Yeah, I'd love to, is everyone else coming?" I was trying hard to stop myself looking like an idiot, but it was probably too late.

"Even Cody is, it'll be fun, and Terriermon and Lopmon are invited too of course!" he informed me as his lips managed to form a smile. I've never really seen Ken smile; it must be a good sign.

"Wow, sounds great! I can't wait!" I replied.

"Oh and by the way, why is Lopmon hiding in that bush?" Ken asked, pointing to the bush behind me.

"Uhhh well.. she uhhh..." I couldn't think of an excuse.

"Hey Wormmon! Don't forget to catch Lopmon under the Mistletoe!" Terriermon shouted as Ken and Wormmon turned to leave. Lopmon was right; his mouth was as big as his ears. Lopmon reappeared from the bush slowly.

Both Wormmon and Lopmon turned red, Terriermon was laughing so hard he fell over and me and Ken just looked at each other and laughed a little. Ken turned round and came closer to me, he then whispered to me:

"I guess everyone knows about Wormmon's little crush then?"

"We do now, ha-ha."

"Why don't you tell everyone about yours Autumn? Terriermon gave me a nudge towards Ken. I could feel the nerves taking over me and I became aware of how much I was blushing. I coughed, gathering my calmness.

"Anyway, we're just going to take care of a few more control spires, and then we'll head on over to yours! See ya there!" I began to run off with Terriermon on my head and Lopmon in my arms.

"Wait! You have a crush! I want to know who!" he shouted after me, just loud enough for me to hear before I managed to disappear over the hill. My heart was pounding. Why did he want to know? Doesn't he know it's... him?

"Don't worry Ken, perhaps you can ask her later" Wormmon said to Ken, to reassure him.

"Maybe one of the others knows? Like Yolei, I mean, girls talk to each other about these things, right?" Ken began to think to himself.

Wormmon nodded "I wouldn't worry about it right now Ken, we have a party to set up"

Ken nodded in agreement and the pair left for the real world to get ready. I, Terriermon and Lopmon stayed later than the others to destroy more control spires. At first I was really nervous about the party, but Ken said that even Cody was going. Plus Kari and Yolei. It would also be a good chance for me to get to know Cody, Davis and TK more, I hardly talk to them.

When we finally returned to the real world it was dark, but the snow was falling delicately in the light of the street lamps. It was beautiful; you could tell it was Christmas. I was stood outside Ken's house, I was fashionably late and I could hear everyone inside.

"Do you think Ken will like his present?" I asked "I know he said it wasn't that type of party but it's in the spirit of Christmas" I asked Lopmon and Terriermon.

"I'm sure he will, who doesn't like getting a present anyway" Lopmon smiled at me. She had a present for Wormmon; it was a special woolly sweater and little gloves to keep him warm. I thought it was really sweet of her. I got Ken a box of chocolate. I was going to get a really cool photo frame but then I thought he'd need a photo, then I thought about getting him a book, then I thought that was a stupid idea too. Terriermon said you can never go wrong with food. Terriermon and Lopmon were both dressed in woolly hats, scarves and mittens. Terriermon had green and Lopmon had Pink. They looked adorable.

"Well here we go" I said as I knocked on the door.

"Hello, you must be Autumn, I'm Mrs Ichijouji, Ken's mother" she introduced herself in a polite and cheerful manner. She seems nice. "Ken your friend Autumn is here" She announces to the whole house then turned back to me "They're all in his room playing cards" she had a friendly smile. I smiled back at her and thanked her as I walked through. When I went into Ken's room everyone was sat on the floor playing Go Fish. I could already see Yolei was losing by the collection of cards in her hands. It felt strange seeing everyone like this, all calm and having fun just after we've been busy saving the world. It was nice to go back to being normal teenagers.

"There's a space right here next to Ken" Wormmon pointed out. I knew he had planned that one...

"He he, thanks Wormmon"I whispered to him, I couldn't help blush a bit. Ken was too so it wasn't so bad. Lopmon sat next to Wormmon and Terriermon sat on my lap, he was kind of heavy for a little guy. My legs went dead after five minutes and I tried to stand up but I ended up falling... onto Ken! It was so embarrassing! My knees had buckled beneath me and before I knew it I was on the floor facing Ken. Again my heart was beating fast and I could feel myself blushing, everyone must have seen it.

"Oh my gosh Ken, I'm so sorry!" my voice went soft and quiet from the embarrassment.

"It's okay" Ken was bright red by now "Here, let me help you up" He tried but as he did we just fell back down again. Everyone was giggling while Ken and I just looked at each other. We both started out with a smile, which then became a giggle, which then transformed into full blown laughter. We all had something to eat; Mrs Ichijouji was a really good cook! Then Wormmon said he wanted to talk to me, so we went onto the balcony to have our chat.

"Tell me Autumn, how do you feel about Ken?" He asked me, in a rather serious tone.

"Why are you asking me this Wormmon?" To be truthful I thought it was obvious how I felt about him, and I thought everyone knew.

"I'm asking because I know how he feels about you. I've never seen him so happy; whenever he's around you he turns red and becomes shy. He smiles and laughs now too. He talks to me a lot about you and he was going to ask Yolei if you've spoken to her about him. I thought I'd come ask you myself."

"I've been meaning to talk to you about him actually. You see, I do like him, but you can't tell him yet. From the moment we first met during that football match; you know, where Davis tackled him, I knew that I liked him. He was always too good for me though. Ken's the boy genius, Ken 'the rocket' Ichijouji", Ken the..." I began to trail off, forgetting what my point actually was.

"The Digimon Emperor?" Wormmon replied, in a more sullen tone this time.

"Wormmon I'll be honest with you, I liked him from the start. Even as the Digimon Emperor I had feelings for him. I knew all along he wasn't a bad guy, he was just lost in a way and that deep inside was the Ken we have now, the real Ken. The thing is I was always too shy to actually tell him. What do you think I should do?" I asked him, I was expecting him to tell me to go to Ken and just tell him how I feel.

"Why not wait a bit and see if I can convince him to come to you? Until then, it's between the two of us." he answered.

"Then he'll come over to me and I'll clam up like you do around Lopmon. Speaking of which, she likes you too, but like me she's too shy to admit it. I have an idea!" I stood up too fast... "Oh no I feel faint. That's what I get for standing up too fast!" I managed to pull myself together. "What if I was to hold the mistletoe above you and Lopmon, then you do the same for Ken and me? We should do it when we give you the presents!" I thought that was a pretty smart suggestion, coming from me.

"Okay, let's go" he said and we went back inside to reconvene with the others. I nodded to Lopmon who then went over to Wormmon with her gift for him. Meanwhile I was focusing on my secret mission. Where was my spy music when I needed it, some James Bond would fit in right about now. I crept round, concealing the mistletoe behind me. What started off as smooth shuffling became an awkward crab like walk.

Wormmon opened his present "Thank you so much Lopmon, its perfect. It's so comfy too" he was blushing and he did look adorable in the dark blue woolly outfit. This was my chance and I dangled the mistletoe above them. Everyone went quiet and the Lopmon looked up, then she turned red. I nodded to Wormmon to indicate he should kiss her, and so he did. As he did a wave of 'awwwww' filled the room. And now it's my turn. Here I go. I felt shivers run all over me as my heart beat increased. I took in a deep breath.

"Ken, Merry Christmas." That shy voice I can't help but talk in when I'm with Ken is going to haunt me.

"I have something for you too" he turned round to his bed, and brought something out from under the pillow. "Here, I hope you like it" I took the opportunity to drop a hint that I like him.

"Of course I'll like it; it's from you, Ken." Good move. We exchanged the gifts.

"Wow Ken! It's beautiful! I love it!" It was a silver locket in the shape of a heart. His gift is way better than mine!

"Thank you Autumn, these happen to be my favourite chocolates, how did you know?" Ken smiled at me; guess I was lucky to get his favourites. Then a voice came from between us.

"Autumn I can't reach" it was Wormmon with the Mistletoe stretching as far as he could.

"Here, I'll help" Terriermon jumped onto Wormmon's head and Lopmon was on top of his! With the three Digimon struggling to balance themselves, I thought I shouldn't waste time in getting that kiss. As I leant towards Ken he came towards me and then our D-TERMINAL's went off. Great timing. It was an email from Tai and Matt. Apparently there were Digimon in the real world. We all set off to fight them and send them back to the Digital world. When we arrived there was already a lot of damage done to the city. Agumon had digivolved into Greymon and Gabumon had digivolved into Garurumon. They were up against DarkTyrannomon. Then LadyDevimon appeared. It was my time to prove my worth as a DigiDestined.

"Terriermon, Lopmon, time to go!" I shouted.

"Terriermon digivolve to... Rapidmon!" Terriermon digivolved straight to his ultimate level.

"Lopmon digivolve to... Antylamon!" So did Lopmon. This was the first time we'd properly fought in a long time but we were still in shape. LadyDevimon attacked Antylamon with her Darkness Spear but Antylamon dodged it by doing a triple back flip. Rapidmon used his Rapid Fire attack and hit LadyDevimon on her left arm. She was stunned that the attack hit her! She seemed to be in a state of paralysis which gave us the opportunity to send her back. Antylamon and Rapidmon were circling her. All of a sudden Antylamon grabbed her from behind to restrain her so Rapidmon could use his Tri-Beam attack.

"Stop Rapidmon" I screamed "We're not trying to destroy her; we need to get her back to the Digital world." Only then I realised what a mistake I had made, because LadyDevimon used her Darkness Spear on Antylamon and did some serious damage, then she used Darkness Wave and hurt Rapidmon. Both of my partners went flying and it was my fault. LadyDevimon turned to me, and was preparing to attack, before I knew it she was coming straight at me. I froze on the spot, horrified at the mistake I made and terrified at this evil Digimon coming straight towards me. I heard Ken's voice call out my name... then I flinched. I felt arms clutching me and the air beat against my face. Stingmon had swooped in and saved me. He took me back down and I stood next to ken. LadyDevimon came at us again, and as luck would have it Stingmon changed back into Wormmon because he hardly had any energy. Ken grabbed me and held on tightly.

"Homing Blast" Rapidmon's voice called out

"Arm Bomber" Antylamon's voice called out

In the blink of an eye LadyDevimon was gone. She was within an inch of me and then she was gone. It was the only thing to do. Goodbye LadyDevimon. Matt and Tai joined us having defeated BlackTyrannomon. The others came back too and it turned out we weren't the only ones who had no choice in destroying the evil Digimon. We walked back to Ken's just to say goodnight. I stayed there for a minute. There was something I wanted to say while everyone else was gone. Something I needed to say.

"Sorry we were interrupted" he said

"Well when you gotta save the world, ya gotta save the world" I couldn't have sounded more awkward. I let out an awkward laugh.

"Back to where we were" Ken leaned towards me and kissed me! In that moment it felt like we were the only two people in the world, it was magical and it was my first kiss!

"Ken, Wormmon, thank you for what you did today, you put yourselves in harm's way to save me."

"We always will be here" his voice fell soft.

"Goodnight Ken" I smiled

"Goodnight Autumn" he smiled. We turned away from each other and began to walk. Lopmon ran back and gave Wormmon a peck on the cheek. Bless them. Then she jumped on my head and we went home. I couldn't sleep that night, and I had a feeling that neither could Ken.


	2. Chapter 2

After yesterdays excitement I couldn't sleep. It was a shame the party got interrupted by the Digimon coming into our world and we did our best to send them back. Unfortunately in the end we had no choice but to destroy them as they were attacking people, including me. It wasn't really a long battle but we were all tired afterwards. We walked back to Ken's house to say goodnight but me and my Digimon stayed behind a bit. Taking down control spires was pretty tough, but keeping it cool when the guy you like kisses you, that was a challenge. After several hours of not being able to sleep I nodded off, replaying the kiss in my dreams.

I woke late in the morning with chocolate and strawberry coloured fur in my face and a snoring green and cream fuzz ball next to me. Terriermon can be loud for his size. Lopmon's fur is so soft, I started to stroke it and her ear moved to reveal two half open deep brown eyes. She let out a delicate yawn.

"Good morning" she whispered, he voice was weary and lacking energy. Suddenly we heard a beastly grumble and I was so shocked I fell off my bed! When I opened my eye Terriermon was stood in front of me.

"What are you doing down there? What's for breakfast, I'm hungry." Well that solved the mystery of the strange noise. I made pancakes and cereal. I know I always say things like this, but Terriermon can eat a lot for his size. My D-TERMINAL went off so I went to check it out.

"An email from Ken" I exclaimed.

"Autumn got an email from lover boy!" shouted Terriermon from the other room. He can be annoying at times.

"He's asking if we want to go shopping?" I asked them. Shopping... what for? I thought to myself, has he asked anyone else to come along or will it just be me and him, and our Digimon.

"Perhaps it's a date" Terriermon seemed to have read my mind. With that I got dressed and my twin Digimon put on their warm Christmas clothes and we headed over to Ken's house. It was cold outside but the sun was out, which made the thin layer of snow glisten. There are a lot of families out today, I don't blame them, it is beautiful. I decided to take a detour through a nearby park.

"Where are we going, I thought we were going to Ken's?" Lopmon asked me

"To the park for a little while, don't ask why, we just are" something inside me felt hollow, I knew this park, I'd been here when I was little. Did I perhaps come with my parents? No, not my parents, it was after their death. Then who? Who brought me here? I hadn't realised that I'd been stood on the small wooden bridge staring out at the pond for the past five minutes. How time flies. I wish I could remember more about my past, and about what happened to my parents. There's no time for this now, I have to think about the present.

I turned to Terriermon and Lopmon who were just stood at the side of me, waiting for me to make a move.

"Okay, we can go now" I said. I picked Lopmon up and put her under my coat to keep her warm, and then I put Terriermon under my coat too, there wasn't much room but at least they were warm.

We arrived at Ken's house and once again his mother answered the door. She already knew about Ken's shopping idea.

"Ken, your friend Autumn is here for you, I'll give you both some money for your shopping trip" she said as Ken came round the corner wearing different clothes than he normally wears. He looked...wow. He had a beige sweater on with a white shirt underneath and dark blue jeans and dark brown shoes. It made a change from his usual grey attire. Was this... a date? Maybe I'm just reading into it too much.

"Are you ready to go, Autumn?" he asked me, I nodded and smiled.

"Yup" I replied "See you later Mrs Ichijouji, thank you for the money" I said as we left. I kept holding back because I felt embarrassed. I forgot to give Ken his card yesterday. I plucked up the courage and gave it to him.

"Here Ken, I'm sorry I forgot to give this to you yesterday." As usual I began to blush. Why didn't I just put 'Merry Christmas' like a normal person? Nice one Autumn, he's gonna think you're weird. He began to read it.

"Dear Ken, if I had a star for every time you brightened my day, I'd have a whole galaxy in my hands. Love Autumn" He turned a pastel pink colour "Thank you Autumn, this is so sweet. I'm keeping this forever" he said as he moved to hug me. I hugged him back. Then I remembered Terriermon and Lopmon were still under my coat!

"Hey quit squishing us!" Terriermon's muffled voice came from within my coat.

"Sorry guys, you were so quiet and so comfy under there, that I forgot you were actually there!" I said, trying to laugh about it. We walked for a few minutes.

"In here, it's the best sweet shop around" Ken told me, pointing to a brightly coloured shop with an array of sweets and chocolates on display in the window. It looked so inviting. We went in with empty hands, and we came out with all our hands full, pockets full and my bag was full. Ken took me to the park where we were earlier. There were some kids around our age playing with a Frisbee, some people jogging, others walking their dogs, then me, Ken and our Digimon were sat together just watching the world. The thoughts from earlier were still lingering in my mind.

"What's wrong Autumn?" Ken asked from my left. I looked over at him and hundreds of responses flooded my mind... 'nothing', 'I'm just thinking', 'I like it here', but I decided to tell him straight up.

"Well, I have memories of this park, someone brought me here but it wasn't my parents, it was someone else. I can't think who It could have been or why they would have brought me here." I explained

"Do you remember what happened after that?" he knew what it felt like to not remember things like this.

"Let me think..." I pondered for a moment, "Yes! That's it! I remember the people that brought me here took me to a different place... the Digital world. They disappeared though, and I was wondering around for a very long time, that's when..." I trailed off

"That's when we found each other!" said Terriermon as he poked his head under my arm.

"Yes, that's when I first met my best friends and partners, and I wouldn't trade them for the world. At the time I didn't know what it meant. The second time I went to the Digital world I met some other kids with Digimon, Summer, Spring, and Winter. We stuck together after that. I think it was a couple of years later, during the incident with Diaboromon, that we met Tora, Raiden, Ash, Kaede and Ren. That was also the time I started getting in touch with Izzy and the other Digidestined like Tai and Matt. I've learnt a lot from all of them." I smiled, then I realised... "Sorry I've rambled on about this"

"I don't mind, it's interesting" Ken said, smiling back at me. I think he was just being polite. Some time passed by and Ken checked his watch then got up.

"Where are you going?" I asked him. The Digimon all looked up at ken.

"We are going back into the town, my lady" he said while extending his hand to me. Wait, what did he just call me? His lady? Oh my, I think I'm going to faint! Did that really just happen?!

"I'll follow your lead wherever, Ken" I said as he pulled me up, I could feel my cheeks turn rosy.

"After you, my lady" Wormmon said to Lopmon, and she blushed just as I had. I was following Ken, Lopmon was following Wormmon and Terriermon was following himself. Seriously, he was following his shadow. The sun was behind us.

Ken then spun round so that he was behind me and he put his hands over my eye.

"We're nearly there now" he said. I could feel us going round a corner and turning to face something. He took his hands away from my eyes. We were at an Italian restaurant!

"Ken, are we seriously eating here?" I asked him, I was shocked, this place was fancy!

"Why do you not like Italian food?" he sounded disheartened.

"No I don't, I love it! This is perfect!" I gave him a big hug and we went in. The meal was amazing, the Digimon sat underneath the table and we'd occasionally pass them some food, but mostly the sweets were for them.

"Ken, can I ask you something?" I began to think of the best way to ask him.

"Of course, what is it?" he seemed puzzled and slightly worried.

"Is this a...a... a date?" I asked him, stuttering a bit.

"Umm, well." He reached across and put his hand on mine "Yes"

"Thank you Ken, this is the best date ever, well it's my first too but that's what makes it the best, because it's with you. Thank you for asking me" I smiled.

"The pleasure is all mine" he sounded so mature and much like a gentleman. As far as I was concerned he was _my_ gentleman. Not officially but we're getting there.

Ken walked me home.

"I had a great day with you Ken. Thank you so much. We should do something again sometime" I said

"That can be arranged" he smiled and used his hand to tilt my chin up, then kissed me gently. He went back home, I went inside. My heart was racing. I tucked Terriermon and Lopmon into bed and got in myself. I emailed Yolei, Kari, Spring and Summer telling them everything. I revisited the memories from today. It went so fast. I closed my eyes and went to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

It's now the 16th January, Kari's birthday. I've become good friends with her now; we even hang out together nearly every day. Of course I make time to see Ken too. I need to start making an effort to become friends with all of them, and hopefully this party will be the right way to do it.

"Autumn" Terriermon called to me from upstairs. "Where do you think all these balloons should go?"

"We already have plenty in the dining room, the living room and the kitchen. Why not just have them here in the main entrance?" I said as I looked up to see Terriermon peering over the banister. Despite the fact that there were two perfectly good stairwells, Terriermon stood on the banister and jumped, as he did so he stretched out his ears, using them as parachutes. I think he forgot the balloons had helium in them. Behold my best decoration yet, a floating dog/bunny thing with balloons attached. He looked so funny.

"Let go of the balloons Terriermon" I said with a giggle.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaayy!" He said as he glided down with grace and... *SMACK* ouch, right into the door behind me, that's gotta hurt. He slid down the door and was now face down on the floor.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, I was trying hard not to laugh in case he was hurt.

"Yeah, I'm just practicing answering the door for when everyone arrives" his voice muffled by the floor. Lopmon was decorating the cakes. We couldn't decide on one big one or lots of small ones, what flavours to use or what decorations to put on them. So we had a huge assortment of cakes; vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, lemon and carrot cake. There were different flavoured fillings such as butter cream, whipped cream or jam, different toppings and different coloured icing. Then there was the master cake, a three tier tower of triple chocolate. The bottom layer was dark chocolate with orange, covered with chocolate sprinkles. The second layer was slightly smaller and was made with milk chocolate with mint and chocolate stars. Finally the smaller top layer was made with white chocolate and had white chocolate and milk chocolate hearts alternating around the edge. There was edible glitter, edible paper butterflies and flowers, all pink and purple. In pink icing were the words "Happy 14th Birthday Kari".

"That looks amazing, can I try it?" Terriermon asked with his eyes wide and drooling.

"No you have to wait. We're going to put it behind the curtain on the stage, and then we'll bring her through and open the curtains. With the rest of the food, I'm going to bring the long tables through to the dining room and well have it set out so that everyone can go up and get what they want. Like a buffet." I said.

"Good plan" Terriermon and Lopmon said in sync. With that we finished setting everything up. It was perfect. I had a quick shower and put on my dress. It was lilac, one strap over my right shoulder, knee length and the material was plain underneath then thin and delicate on top. I curled my blonde hair, put some makeup on and I was ready. Lopmon came out with a pretty little pink dress on which was similar to mine but with two straps, and obviously a lot smaller. Terriermon came out with a mini suit on and a black bow tie. The pair of them looked adorable.

The doorbell rang.

Terriermon stood on my left and Lopmon stood on my right. I opened the door and everyone was there.

"Welcome to my home everybody." I said with a smile.

"Would you like me to take any coats or hats?" Terriermon asked politely. I trained him well. They stood in awe of the landing. There were stairs on the left and stairs on the right, both leading up to the landing at the top. The corridor was split into three; one part went to the left, one part went to the right and one part when straight to the back. Below this was a huge marble statue of an angel. It was pure white marble; the angel's features were smooth and detailed. Her head was titled upwards, her hands clasped together as if in prayer and her wings came out and round to the front. Her dress was long and plain. Above the statue was a portrait of me as a five year old, my mother on the left and my father on the right. We looked so happy.

"Where are they" Cody asked me as he noticed me staring at the painting. Everyone looked to me.

"They passed away when I was 5. I suppose I ought to tell you guys about it" I felt hostility in my own voice, there was anger inside me and it was growing slightly as I recalled the last memory with my parents. We went through to the living room.

"I was born and raised in the Digiworld but we would sometimes come back home. My parents were both professors and they studied Digimon. My dad had a partner, called Impmon. Something went wrong; Impmon got a virus and Digivolved into Devimon. He killed them. I was taken in by a Digimon called Leomon. Then Lopmon and Terriermon came to me and we've been inseparable ever since. I became friends with other DigiDestined kids like me called Summer, Spring, Winter. Then Ren, Tora, Kaede, Raiden and Todd joined us. You can meet them sometime if you like? It would be nice to see them after such a long time." I explained in a sorrowful tone.

"Why have you not seen them recently?" Cody asked me.

"The last time I saw them was in the Digital world and we went our separate ways, it changed after... Well after Ken." My voice went quiet, knowing that reminding Ken of all the bad stuff that happened would upset him. I looked over to him and him looked down, ashamed, and didn't utter a word. I felt guilty for mentioning it. "I started to drift away from them a bit because, well I wanted to try and help Ken but there were Digimon that needed help first so that occupied my time. I still helped them but I was trying to help Ken... Then you guys came, Ken joined you and then so did I." I paused, looking at everyone who was just staring back at me in shocked silence. "I'm sorry" I began again "I need some air". I turned and left to go to the garden. It was huge, with a fountain in the centre and beds of flowers everywhere, a rainbow of colours. I sat down on the swing and began to rock slowly back and forth.

"Autumn" a voice called to me while I was in my strange trance of reflection.

"Oh, Wormmon" I said as I looked down. "Kari, Yolei, what's going on?" I asked them.

"We're you're friends, we came to make sure you were okay." Kari said, in a calming voice.

"I can see his pain. I can feel it. I hate seeing him like that. If I could I'd take it all away. The thing is, I don't care what he's done because I've known all along that the Ken here with us; the Ken that took me out on Boxing Day is the real Ken. I saw through the Digimon Emperor. I always liked him." I said, they knew who I was talking about anyway; I didn't have to say his name.

"I'm sure Davis will cheer Ken up soon. Come back inside, we'll all make him feel better" Kari said as she put her hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, maybe I'm just overreacting" I smiled. We went back inside and there was Davis talking to Ken at the front of the room, Cody and the Digimon were talking amongst each other.

Ken looked over to me and managed a weak smile. I smiled back at him. He looked back at Davis and then Davis came over.

"He's fine, he just needs some cake!" Davis assured me. I went over to Ken.

"I'm sorry Ken." I said

"You don't have to apologise. I'm fine." He said with a blank expression. I think he feels bad for making me feel bad. I hugged him tightly and he hugged me back. I leant my head on his shoulder and his right hand stroked the back of my head. I stepped back again to speak.

"I know you haven't forgiven yourself yet, but I did a long time ago. Please don't be upset, Ken. I don't like seeing you like this." I held back the tears. I hugged him then looked into his blue eyes. "Come on, let's have some cake" I smiled to him. As planned I went up onto the stage. Terriermon supported Lopmon on his shoulders so she could grab the rope.

"Okay Lopmon, now!" I said and started pulling. As we pulled, the curtains parted to reveal the magnificent cake. The room filled with gasps of awe. I lit the candles on the cake and Kari came up onto the stage. We started singing Happy Birthday to her and she blew out the candles in one. We sliced the cake and shared the pieces between us equally. There was a lot of food, even between us. Kari started to open her presents. Makeup from Yolei, a cute top from me, shoes from TK, hair accessories from Ken, a teddy bear from Davis, nail vanish and a nail art kit from Cody. Gatomon got her some clothes for dancing. There were some more expensive presents I got her; a laptop, mobile phone, a dress, some other new clothes and jewellery.

"This is too much, Autumn!" she exclaimed

"Kari, it's fine, it's not much. I was thinking of getting you a car when you're ready to drive." I smiled sincerely.

"You are all welcome to sleep over if you wish" I told everyone

"It would be nice to have company" said Terriermon

"Just to warn ya, Terriermon's snoring sounds like Ogremon with a sore throat!" Lopmon burst out. Everyone laughed except Terriermon. Then the two started play fighting. They were a typical sibling pair.

"That's enough you two" Ken said as he came over and picked up Terriermon. Terriermon's ears lowered as he relaxed. I picked up Lopmon and we all went outside. I sat down on the grass next to some flowers. The Digimon were playing with the swings and toys. Ken and the others were admiring the fountain. Wormmon came over to me, then Yolei and Kari.

"Hey, what are they doing over there?" Davis asked the guys

"Probably just having a girl chat, you know what they're like" TK said.

"Probably talking about us" said Cody

"Probably talking about Ken" said Davis as he put both hands behind his head, trying to strike a cool pose as he looked at Ken. It would have worked if he hadn't fallen in the fountain. We all had a good laugh about it.

"Terriermon will take you upstairs, there's some spare clothes you can wear" I shouted over to him. Terriermon and Davis went back inside. I turned to the girls and Wormmon.

"So what should I do? He said it was a date, does that mean he likes me or was he just being nice?" I asked.

"Guys don't take girls out for the day, call it a date and kiss you for no reason" Yolei winked at me

"It's true. I know I don't show it but I do like Davis, I just want him to prove that he's worth my time. You know how goofy he is most of the time." Kari sighed.

"Do you want me to ask him for you Autumn?" Wormmon said as he came closer to me. "I have a strong feeling he does, and if he really does I can find out why he's holding back and not asked you to be his girlfriend" I couldn't help but blush slightly.

"No, we can't make it obvious. Wait, Autumn, does he know you like him?" Yolei was off "We have to think of the best way to go about this. He could be holding back so he doesn't seem desperate? Maybe he's never had a girlfriend before and doesn't know what to do? He might not be sure how he feels. Or he could be holding back because he's not sure how you feel and doesn't want to embarrass himself. He could be waiting for the right moment. Perhaps you could subtly hint that you like him? But be careful, you don't want to come across as clingy" Is she going to stop... "I think the most important part is..." apparently not "That you just be yourself." She finished. Just in time too because Ken was heading this way!

"You guys are talking about me, aren't you?" he asked. There was a sense of worry in his voice, as if he thought we were talking about him in a bad way.

"Well, uh, actually we..." I struggled for an explanation. Then I looked over to where Davis just appeared from.

"Davis when I said there were spare clothes for you I meant shorts and a shirt! Not my cheerleading outfit!" I screamed at him in shock, fury and oh my goodness he even put my makeup on.

"How do I look guys, pretty cute huh? Give me a 'D', give me a..." he started cheering, even using pompoms.

"We already know how to spell 'dork'" I said in a joking manner. I wasn't mad anymore, it was actually quite funny. He spent the rest of the time wearing it.

"I admire the way Davis is with you Kari" picking up where we left off from the girl talk "He's so open about how he feels about you; he'll say it in front of everyone. Ken doesn't. It feels like he waits for you guys to leave to actually make any kind of move"

"He's just worried what everyone will think about it, he's still getting used to having friends, and he will open up at some point, I'm sure of it" said Wormmon.

"Thank you Wormmon" I smiled at him, took him in my arms and we joined the others in watching Davis's impressions of what I think was something from a comedy show he'd been watching.

This had turned out to be a really great day. I know I've got Kari, Yolei and Wormmon to confide in; Davis isn't really that much of a dork. He just likes making people laugh. I still need to make more of an effort with TK and Cody but I don't want Ken to get jealous. Terriermon and Lopmon have really grown; they're becoming good friends with the other Digimon. I think I've grown too. I miss my other friends, but I'm not alone, I have these guys by my side. Full of cake we went upstairs and Kari suggested we played spin the bottle.

"Cody, truth or dare?" Kari asked him.

"Dare" was his response

"OK Cody, I dare you to make a prank call to Yolie's house!" Davis shouted out.

"Davis... Really?" Cody asked as he lowered his head. It was obvious he didn't want to as he had a lot of respect for Yolie and her family.

"Yeah really!" Davis laughed.

Cody began to dial the number.

*ring ring* "Hello, Inoue residence" Yolei's Father answered.

"Hello" Cody said in a high pitched voice "Can I be your bread because I love loafing around" He hung up.

"Haha that was embarrassing" I said. "Okay Ken, you spin the bottle now." He spun the bottle and it landed on me.

"Autumn" He said to me and I looked up. "Truth or dare?" This was a tough decision.

"I pick... truth" I said, already regretted my choice.

"Do you like me" Ken asked. OH MY GOODNESS! How could he just ask me like that in front of everybody?

"I changed my mind, I pick dare." I said thinking I'd saved myself.

"I dare you to answer the question" Ken said to me. He was determined to get an answer. I looked over at Yolei, she nodded. I looked over at Kari, and she nodded. I looked at Wormmon and he nodded too.

"Yes." I said quietly. I spun the bottle to move on quickly. Of all people it would land on Ken.

"Truth" he said immediately. Was this the right time? Was I supposed to ask him the same question he asked me? I felt compelled to...

"Tell you truth, do you like me back?" I asked him and everyone looked at Ken intently.

"Yes, I do." He said. He spun the bottle again but this time it landed on Kari. The game carried on in a similar fashion for the rest of the night until we all found out who liked who. TK spun the bottle and for the final time it landed on Ken.

"Dare" again he answered immediately.

"I dare you to take Autumn out on a date" TK said, winking at me. Thanks TK.

"We already went on a date." Ken answered, looking over at me.

"Go on another one then, how's about a four-coupled date? Instead of it being a double date there are four couples? You and Autumn, Kari and Davis, me and Yolei..." he trailed off, realising that Cody would be left out.

"I don't really like anyone TK so it's fine. Plus I have assignments to catch up on." Cody said to TK, it seemed like he was half bothered and half not bothered.

"Well actually.." I thought of someone. "My friend Summer is going to be in the area soon. I can ask her to come, I have a feeling you two might like each other".

"Okay, I guess it couldn't hurt" Cody said with a slight smile forming from his lips.

We left it to the guys to decide among themselves where they'd take us. It was quite exciting and me and Kari and Yolei were secretly emailing each other talking about it. Eventually we all fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

It was late in the morning when everyone finally woke up but I had been up for ages. Terriermon and Lopmon were in the kitchen trying to get breakfast for everyone but they needed to wait for me to use the hob.

"Have either of you seen Autumn?" Ken came in with a yawn.

"She'll be in the basement, we'll take you there." Terriermon replied.

"She woke up a few hours ago, saying she had to look at something." Lopmon jumped off Terriermon's head and then nearly tripped over her own ears.

"Careful, Lopmon." Wormmon went over to her and she blushed.

"It's nothing; I do that all the time. Not as much as my brother though." She brushed it off.

"Hey!" Terriermon exclaimed. The others were now awake too and had found the kitchen.

"Now that everyone's here, let's go!" Lopmon lead the way. They were back at the main entrance and Lopmon went over to the centre portrait which hung between the stairwells. She jumped and pressed the painting in. The wall started to move and they proceeded to follow the stairs downwards into the dark and gloomy looking laboratory.

"Why is it so dusty in here? It's as if no one has been here in years." Kari asked Lopmon.

"They haven't. Well except for Autumn of course but she doesn't disturb much of it." Lopmon's tone was still uplifting.

"There's only one part of the lab she goes to..." Terriermon on the other hand had a stern tone.

"I have a feeling we're about to find out why, aren't we?" Ken stood still for a moment. A wave of worry had washed over him.

"C'mon, it's not far now. See that light there?" Lopmon pointed to a room straight ahead where a dull light emanated. They entered to find Autumn sat with piles of research papers and several computer screens with lots of unreadable words displayed on them.

"Hey, Ken?" Davis called from the other side of the room. "Isn't this your mum?" He asked, holding a wooden framed photograph of two women smiling together.

"Yeah, but I don't know who the other woman is." He stared at the picture, trying to think how long ago it was taken.

"That's my mother." I said without moving. My eye were locked on the screen in front.

"They knew each other?" Ken asked.

"Yes, a long time ago. They grew up together. As did we, you just don't remember much. I'll start from the beginning. Our mothers were always best friends. In fact that's how my mum met my dad. My dad was a friend of your dad; I think they worked together at one point, until twenty years ago."

"What happened twenty years ago?" TK asked.

"The digital world. My parents found it somehow and they ended up there. My dad received a digivice, the same model as the original digi-destined. They began researching the digi-world and my dad found a partner. His name was Impmon. They would keep travelling back and forth to the digi-world all the time. When my parents found out they were going to have me, they moved house, they used to live in Hightenview Terrace. Anyway, shortly after I was born, Impmon digivolved into Devimon but something went wrong and he attacked and killed my parents. I don't know how but I ended up back in the real world and I had a guardian called Louis, a friend of my dad's, who knew all about the digital world. I think he had been looking for me and my parents for all that time, of course time was flowing differently so it must have only been a month or two tops. It was no coincidence I ended up at the same school as you Ken, Louis thought it would be good for me to stick with you and your mum was always there to help, there was Sam too of course..." She trailed off. Autumn and Sam actually used to be very close and Louis would always tease her for having a crush on him, which she didn't. She played with Ken too but because Sam was older he was like a babysitter so spent more time with her when Louis was busy.

"After that happened Louis became ill and passed away, that's when I went to live in America with my Aunt and Uncle, and my cousin, Willis. I was only there for two years then I came back here to study. That's when I found the basement and all of this."

"So you've been here since you were ten?" Davis was trying to figure out the maths.

"Yes, after I found all of my parent's research I received my digivice and two digi-eggs. I thought it was destiny trying to help me find out what happened to my parents. Eventually I found a letter from Louis explaining it and I set out to find Devimon. That journey brought me to my friends; Fuyoko, Natsuko and Haruko. People just called us the four seasons because that's what our names mean. Eventually the others joined and we had a good time bonding with our Digimon. I actually forgot about Devimon, until I heard about the group of digi-destined who were fighting him. I was going to join but me and my friends were helping the digimon instead. I'm certain that it's the very same Devimon that Tai and the others fought, who killed my parents. We split after that, I wanted to get back to having a normal life. Then you disappeared, Ken. It's only now that I remember; my digivice and digi-eggs weren't all that came from the digi-world that day. This stone tablet came too. It's a prophecy of some kind about a child born and raised in the digi-world who will become part digimon themselves. I came down here to try and figure out who it could be."

"Maybe we can ask Azulonmon?" Cody suggested.

"That's actually a great idea, let's go!" Yolei stood up. Just as we were about to leave there was a loud bang then a dull thump upstairs. When we got up there Mummymon was out cold in my living room.

"He needs help right now!" I shouted. Moments passed and he came to, he was in really bad condition.

"Arukenimon... Please help." He was struggling to get his words out. "She's in danger... digi-world."

"You should rest, Mummymon!" I tried to get him to stay laying down but he refused. Using all his strength he stood up and put his hands on my shoulders.

"Daemon has Arukenimon. Please help her." He passed out again. We went straight to the digi-world and it didn't take us long to find Daemon.

"The prophecy child returns to her world. Join me and we can take over both worlds with ease." He was looking straight at me. "How have you not figured it out yet? You were the child born in this world, raised by Leomon for five years until you disappeared back to the human world."

"You're stupid if you think I would ever join you!" I shouted at him.

"Don't you want to realise your full potential? _Vargamon..."_

"What? What did you just call me?" I could feel a strange sensation in me... I felt myself step back without meaning to.

"Perhaps it is too soon, or there is another way to unlock your power!" He suddenly lifted up his arm and fired a beam at Terriermon and Lopmon. Then he turned to the others and fired at them too! I ran to take care of my digimon whilst the other digimon digivolved and began to fight. I felt so helpless. If only I knew what this power was that Daemon was talking about, and what Vargamon was...

"Akiko..." Lopmon struggled to get up.

"Lopmon you need to rest, you're hurt too much." I held her in my arms.

"No, we can fight, he may be strong but we can still win this." Terriermon heard his sister's words and he got up and started staggering over.

"She's right, as long as we have each other he won't beat us."

"You guys..." I didn't know what to say. I was overcome with emotion. I stood up and they stood beside me, with my strength as theirs the mega digivolved into Antylamon and Rapidmon. By the time I noticed it was too late... the others had all fallen, my friends... and the Rapidmon and Antylamon went hurtling past me. I stood alone against Daemon. I felt a swell of emotion and I noticed I was crying... but I wasn't feeling sadness, I was feeling a great deal of anger and hatred. My whole body started glowing... changing. Could this be what Daemon was talking about? My true power...

"Is she... digivolving?!" Davis talked to himself but the others were thinking it. I had become a digimon somehow... I was on four legs, I felt so different. Stronger... and furry...

"She became a digimon!" Yolei sat and watched as I began to run at Daemon.

"The prophecy is true..." Cody added in disbelief. All I could think was, am I strong enough to beat Daemon on my own?


End file.
